Friday, 28 February 2014

Three great videos of the same race 450 Expert Race.
This is Salem, Oregon, a short drive from Portland and where are friends from See See Motorcycles have been racing all winter. This is, clearly, a small, local race. The spectators are other racers, their families and friends. The race entry is about $40, anyone can turn up and race BUT two of the most exciting and combative riders in the flat track, one of whom is the GNC champ, just happened to turn up and compete. Brad Baker and Sammy Halbert go at it after two false starts. It's like going to a Thursday night football five-a-side match and being in the same sports hall as Rooney and Sturridge, but no one outside the four walls knows about it.

The video above shows how hard Halbert (#7) is pushing Baker (#1) with Davis Fisher (#67) just behind (then in front). The helmet-mounted Sammy cam below gives a rider's eye view but distorts how close the two are. The bottom film gives another perspective.

Thursday, 27 February 2014

Hi Ben,
How are you? Maybe this is something for you? I Made another tracker-styled Honda.
This time a CB400F, it's going to be on display in The Sting clothing store, so I dumped the front brake for cleaner looking bars.
As the with the 550, painting (except powdercoating the frame and rims), upholstery and metalwork, the only one to blame is me.More pictures on my blog Raw Candy.Cheers, BC

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

This fresh in from Norm, the creator of Motorcycho magazine and the theremin-wrangling Bez of The Vicious Cycles MC.

Check out the brand new video for 'I Roll The Dice' and download the song for FREE via www.theviciouscycles.bandcamp.com From the new album 'Bad News Travels Fast' coming out April 1 on Teenage Rampage. Tour dates for Canada and the West Coast USA coming real soon...get stoked!

I'm back on the northern fringes of the English Black Country at the moment. The house where I grew up, and where my parents still live, is on the Wolverhampton Road, about seven miles from Wolverhampton itself. Over the past century or more, the English West Midlands has been home to more bike builders than any other British region, though almost every marque is now defunct. Sunbeam, of Wolverhampton, is just one of those.

The DT90 dirt track model was introduced in 1928 and featured the TT-winning 493cc Model 90 OHV engine, though fitted with single-port head instead of the twin-port on the road racers and road models. The Druid-style girder forks came in for a load of criticism from testers and racers, so for the following year (below) they were swapped for the Webb-type popular with dirt trackers. Wheels are a giddying 28in. MP

Sunday, 23 February 2014

Funny how things can pan out. A few weeks back, my wife found this knife in the street. It had clearly been lying there for a while and with no houses or shops nearby, she brought it home and I cleaned it up. It seems it was a promotional freebie, originally in a leather pouch and probably from the 1950s. I've seen others online stamped with Bayer and also made by Walter Kayser in Solingen, Germany, a town with a long history of blade making, the Sheffield of the Rhineland.

And this is Adolf Weil, a son of Solingen and known as the Iron Man thanks to his long career in motocross, most of which was spent as a Maico works rider, in fact the AW400 he's riding here in 1976 bears his initials. He won 14 national championships and three times came third in the 500cc world championships. At the age of 34 he won the Trans-AMA title. Adolf died in 2011, but the bike shop he set up in his home town when he retired from racing in 1977 is still run by his sonsFrank and Jürgen. MP

Saturday, 22 February 2014

Tomorrow, Sunday 23 Feb, hosted at Ace Cafe London.North Circular Road Stonebridge London NW10 7UD on the junction of Beresford Avenue and the old North Circular Road, between the A40 and the A404 (Harrow Road). Red Max Speed Shop and Co Built will be there.

Friday, 21 February 2014

A slightly belated congratulations to Scunthorpe lad Tai Woffinden who last Sunday was awarded the Motor Cycle News Man of the Year award to clutter his cabinet alongside the World Championship silverware he brought home last season. The annual MCN gong has been given out since 1958 and Woffy, who races for Wolverhampton Wolves in the British Elite League, is the first speedway rider to get his moniker on the trophy that bristles with names such as John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, Barry Sheene and Joey Dunlop. MP

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

German publishing house Gestalten, the makers of the highly acclaimed modified motorcycle book The Ride, now stock Sideburn in their store - Gestalten Space in Berlin. It looks like a book lover's heaven. G

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

This is our mate Steve's Grand Canyon. It used to be his, then it belonged to our other friend, Captain Simo (who raced it at Dirt Quake 1), now it's back with Steve again (this goes on a lot between Steve and Simo). the Ducati-powered Cagiva had more makeovers than David Bowie. This is the story of its life - in pictures - starting now scrolling back to the dawn of time.

Monday, 17 February 2014

Our mate, the Finnish TT rider Juha Kallio will ride at the TT in this year
again. But his friend Antti, who studies in the Helsinki Film School is
ready with the documentary about Juha. The director Antti Jääskeläinen has studied film editing in Helsinki Film School. This project began almost two years ago with Antti filming Juha's life and racing on Finnish circuits and outside of them, and later developed into a feature length film. The film will be screened first in Imatra Finland around the beginning of the year 2014. Duration 70 min. The film has no major production company behind is, but is partly produced by the Helsinki Film School.Antti says: 'The Fast of the Forest (Original Finnish title Seuraavaan Mutkaan) is a
documentary film that follows a Finnish road racer Juha Kallio, 28, as he
battles his way towards his dream race - the Isle of Man TT. Juha is
addicted to going fast and he has been racing most of his life. Starting
his journey from racing motorcycles with his brother in the woods of his
hometown in Imatra, towards mastering the world's fastest and most
dangerous track with over 260 corners, Juha hasn't got a clue what awaits
him.'

The second issue of high quality French zine All You Need Is Ride is in the webshop.
This issue includes reports from various classic races, dirt track run what you brungs, features on custom builders and shows and a profile of Maxwell Paternoster - Chief Corpse From Hell.

A5 size, 126 pages, perfect bound.

Every issues comes with a Maxwell Paternoster/Corpses From Hell beermat.

Sideburn exclusive - this is a French language magazine, but we've been sent a print outs of Sarah Bradley's Good Revival feature in English to send out with our orders.

Saturday, 15 February 2014

Our friend Dael bought this hardcore racer to put on the road, had it converted, got it road registered then realised it was too much for his London commute. Too noisy, too lairy... It's for sale £7500, email him if you're serious - daelp @ mac.com

Martin Squires is a total one-off. I first met him at a crappy bike show in Newark a couple of years ago and I've repeatedly bumped into him at events since. He turns up with his art box and sketchbook, chooses a subject then starts work. He's often one of the first there and one of the last to leave.
Indoors, outdoors, rain or shine. Bikes, tractors, cars, machinery...
He's also started designing concepts for Old Empire and ODFU.
He is undoubtedly one of the good guys. G

Thursday, 13 February 2014

Work has begun on the next Sideburn schematic blueprint. Using photos of Alastair's immaculate Trackmaster BSA for reference and a folder full of period snaps Mick Ofield will almost literally build the drawing nut by bolt.

My fancy carbonfibre Gitzo tripod that could splay its legs as wide and low as you like went AWOL, and my Manfrotto can't go as low unless I hang it up-side-down, so I improvised with a length of 4b'2 balanced on an old Dymag formula 1 wheel (the magnesium Spitfire undercarriage wheels Alastair also had kicking about were too small for the job). BP